Football News : Diogo Jota could miss the World Cup owing to a calf injury

Attacker Diogo Jota of Liverpool and Portugal may be forced to withdraw from the 2022 World Cup after suffering a calf injury against Manchester City on Sunday.

In the final third of the match against the champions, Jota started alongside Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. Salah's strike in the second half gave the Reds a 1-0 victory.

Jota had to be taken off on a stretcher late in the second half, adding to the home crowd's already-existing fitness issues, therefore, the game finished on a disappointing note for them.

In his post-game press conference, Jurgen Klopp informed reporters that he had no good news to present regarding Jota's condition.

"Diogo, I wish I wouldn't have to talk about it. I saw it on the side on the screen, I am the first who saw it."

"When I saw he goes down and there was not a lot of contact, you can see a little bit that somebody kicks his foot and maybe the muscle got overstretched, 96 minutes, that's not good for the muscle. He felt it immediately and now we have to wait to see how bad it is."

The Athletic reports that there are now concerns that Jota's injury is too bad to save his World Cup chances, and he will get a scan on Monday to find out how serious the issue is in his right calf.

In Group H in Qatar, Portugal will play South Korea, Uruguay, and Ghana. On November 24,Portugal will begin its quest for World Cup triumph against Ghana.

Jota has gained 28 caps for his country, scoring 10 goals and assisting nine more in the process.He has been a constant in the Portugal lineup for the past couple of years.

The 25-year-old has only made eight appearances in all events thus far, recording five assists but going scoreless. He missed the opening few weeks of the 2022-23 season due to a hamstring injury.

Owing to a busy fall schedule, Liverpool's treatment room is already full. Jota is joined in the hospital by fellow forward Luis Diaz, who may not play for Liverpool again before Boxing Day due to a knee injury.

Aside from Trent Alexander-Arnold, other injured players include Joel Matip (calf), IbrahimaKonate (muscle), Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Arthur (all thigh), although Trent Alexander-Arnold returned from his ankle injury on Sunday afternoon.

An incident-filled match between Liverpool and Man City was ended by Salah's goal in the second half. Phil Foden's goal for Pep Guardiola's team was disallowed due to a shirt pull on Fabinho by Erling Braut Haaland.

In the waning moments of the game, Bernardo Silva made a similar challenge on Salah directly in front of the linesman but got away with it. Klopp yelled at the official and got himself sent out.

The Merseyside team's 1-0 victory was tainted by incidents of crowd unrest from both sets of fans, and the German has now acknowledged that his "over the top" behaviour justified a red card.

Following the game, Liverpool denounced "vile chants" coming from the away end concerning stadium mishaps, while Guardiola alleged that home supporters had thrown money in his direction.

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